House Demolition
We tear down old houses and cabins, including homes hurt by fire or storms. The debris goes out on our dump truck, and the lot is left clean for what comes next.
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Bryson City sits where Deep Creek meets the Tuckasegee River, under the Great Smoky Mountains. Most lots in town are small and steep, and about half the houses were built before 1980. An old house, a worn out mobile home or a leaning shed takes up the ground a new build needs. On a lot that runs 30 to 50 percent slope, getting a machine in and the debris out is the whole job.
Sanders Contracting is a demolition contractor based in Murphy, about 47 road miles down US 19/74. Bryson City is part of our service area. We tear down houses and mobile homes, clear lots and cut house pads with two excavators and a dump truck. Call or text (828) 342-1467 and we will look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Tell us what you need done and where the property is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Inside the town limits, the lots with a house on them run about 0.45 acres in the middle of the range. Many sit on the Evard and Cowee soils that cover the ridges, mapped at 30 to 50 percent slopes with stone. Cowee soil hits weathered rock 20 to 40 inches down. That is why an excavator does the digging on these lots, and the slab or the piers come out with it.
About 13 percent of the town's homes are mobile homes, and about 55 percent of all homes went up before 1980. The older ones carry the asbestos question. The state's Health Hazards Control Unit recommends an inspection before any house comes down. An inspector accredited by the state does it. We tear down what the inspector clears, haul the debris off in the dump truck and leave the lot ready to build on.
Swain County Building Inspections issues the demolition permit and the land development permit. The county's fee list puts the land development permit ahead of any other permit on a site. Starting work without a permit doubles the fee, the same list says. We can tell you which permits a teardown or a pad has needed on lots like yours, and the county office has the final word.
Ground work has its own lines. Under one acre of disturbance, the county asks only that the sediment stay on the site. Above one acre, a plan drawn by an engineer or a qualified person goes in, and a grading permit comes before the first cut. A retaining wall four feet or taller needs an engineered design there. Walls on these slopes are common, so the design question comes up early.
About 18 percent of the town's land sits in the mapped flood hazard area along the Tuckasegee, Deep Creek and the smaller creeks. Almost half of that is regulatory floodway, the highest share of any town we serve. A lot in that zone needs the county's floodplain rules checked before any fill or grading. We tell you what we see on the ground, and the county tells you what the map allows.
Swain County permitted 73 new single family houses in 2024 and 84 in 2025. Most of them start the same way: land clearing on a wooded lot, then a pad cut into the slope. Our site development work covers the pad, the driveway cut and the rough grade. The brush, stumps and rock leave in the dump truck, so the lot is clear when the footings go in.
Mobile homes make up about one home in eight inside Bryson City, and more outside the limits toward Cherokee and Whittier. A worn out single wide or double wide comes apart fast with an excavator. The piers, skirting, steps and pad come out with it. The lot is then ready for the footings the county inspects on a new set up.
Old barns, sheds and garages are the other common call. Building demolition handles those, and the pile leaves in the dump truck the same day it comes down. Main Street is getting a new streetscape this year and Island Park is being rebuilt, so the town is investing in itself. We serve Bryson City, Whittier, the Deep Creek side and the rest of Swain County from Murphy.
Communities and areas we serve around Bryson City: Main Street and the Town Square, Island Park, Deep Creek, Arlington Heights, Town Mountain Estates, Elmore Farms, Yona Springs, Tipton Heights, Holly Hills, Riverwood, Gwen Acres, the Tuckasegee River.
Bryson City ZIP codes served: 28713.
Bryson City is part of our service area. We come out from Murphy, look at the job and put the quote in writing.
(828) 342-1467 We tear down old houses and cabins, including homes hurt by fire or storms. The debris goes out on our dump truck, and the lot is left clean for what comes next.
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We tear down single wide and double wide mobile homes and haul them off in our dump truck. The lot is left cleaned up and ready for a new home or a new pad.
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We tear down barns, garages, sheds and old store buildings with the excavator. The dump truck hauls the debris off and the spot is left clean.
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We break out old slabs, foundations, driveways and patios with the excavator. The broken concrete goes out in our dump truck.
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We clear brush and small trees off lots and acreage, then pull the stumps. The dump truck hauls the debris away, and the ground is ready to use.
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We cut house pads and driveways into sloped lots and dig for the foundation. Your build starts on level ground.
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We dig for footings and basements and cut level building pads into sloped lots. Extra dirt and rock leave in our dump truck.
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We take down dead and leaning trees with the excavator and haul the wood off in the dump truck. We also trim and prune limbs and handle storm cleanup.
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Retaining walls that hold a driveway or a house pad on a sloped mountain lot. You choose the material, and every wall gets drainage behind it.
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We spray seed and mulch over new lawns, graded sites, cleared ground and cut banks. Once the grass takes, its roots hold the soil in place.
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We haul off demolition, construction and storm debris with the excavator and the dump truck. Brush piles and stumps go too, and the site is left clean.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Bryson City. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us what has to come down or get cleared, and where the job is. Call or text (828) 342-1467 or (828) 361-8764, or send the form, and we set a time to look at it.
Tell us what you need done and where the property is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.